It was the Halloween celebration that you went, took the elephant over there for. It hadn’t quite finished the inside yet. Well, Jesus. There’s a dome. And we took her over there. Was fine with the children. We walked in and walked out. We had to have a police guard… Read More
She was perfectly handled. We worked at a house out on the island, a birthday party. Somebody wanted to spend the money to hire an elephant ride for a birthday party. We were- Frank, mention how it came upon, the method to get her to lie down. Read More
And how long did you work her or did you ultimately have to move her to a zoo?… Read More
Yes. Read More
Just a follow-up question, when you were director of either Evansville or Jacksonville, which we’ll talk about, but when you were director, did you ever have problems with animal rights people?… Read More
And how long, so Connie was now giving rides, and you were, so you were working her?… Read More
Not that I’m aware of. If somebody complained, not to me but just complained about an animal not being treated properly, we got into action right away. Certainly. Read More
Now, Frank, you mentioned that people were upset about Connie being chained up. Yes. with little adjustments so they didn’t- Well, I fixed it by replacing the chain with an nylon leash. Read More
We don’t wait for animal rights organizations. You listen to the public very carefully, and we heard enough so that we changed that leash from a chain to a nylon leash. Do it instantly. Read More
Did you have issues with animal rights organizations when you were doing this kind of thing or just individual citizens?… Read More
Did you have a howdah made for Connie yet?… Read More
And the girl said, “When do I get on her?” And I said, “Well, this may be a little rough, but try it.” She came up to the platform, and the girl got on her back and sat there. And the elephant walked ahead and walked around the loop, a… Read More
What did the girl, girl had something to hold onto to, I remember. Yes, yes. She had a baby howdah. Just a different, the only difference were baby ones. And she came back to the platform and stood there. The girl got off, and she walked around again with nobody. Read More
It’s up a hillside, not open to the public, up a hillside. And at the top of the hill, we parked our vehicles, and the elephant stayed up there and came down the hill in the morning every day and went back at night. Connie, again, still, wouldn’t have anything… Read More
And, “She can’t get her. She can’t nurse. It’s an Asian elephant doing rides,” and Connie was an African elephant. Two totally different species. And the public right away, “It’s mother and baby.” So I bought a heavy nylon leash the same length as the chain. Used the leash to… Read More
Nobody said anything. Once in a while, we’d turn ’em loose at the end of the day and Connie would follow the other elephant wherever she went. And we’d take, drove them back, back up, up the hill, back up to their trailer. About somewhere along about July 15, I… Read More
We took her in, up, and had to hire an elephant trucker to move the elephant from?… Read More
Hawthorn. Hawthorn Corporation was Cuneo’s. Hawthorn Corp, yeah. From Cuneo’s to Omaha. I met her at Omaha. She and Connie loved each other instantly. I led Connie. You have to see the Omaha Zoo. Read More
From?… Read More
Tom was invited to come to Circus Vargas, and he went to Circus Vargas. Read More